1. Field
Provided are a fusion protein comprising an anti-c-Met antibody and a VEGF-binding fragment which are coupled to each other, a bispecific antibody comprising the fusion protein, a polynucleotide encoding the fusion protein, a transformant comprising the polynucleotide, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the bispecific antibody as an active ingredient, and a method for preparing the bispecific antibody targeting c-Met and VEGF at the same time and has improved anticancer and anti-angiogenesis effects, comprising coupling an anti-c-Met antibody with a VEGF-binding fragment.
2. Description of the Related Art
c-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) present at the surface of cells, and binds to its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), to promote intracellular signal transduction, thereby promoting the growth of cells. In addition, c-Met is over-expressed in cancer cells, and thereby widely implicated in cancer incidence, cancer metastasis, cancer cell migration, cancer cell invasion, angiogenesis, etc. c-Met is over-expressed in many kinds of cancers and, in particular, most of the patients with over-expressed c-Met tend to have poor prognosis.
Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) is also present in normal cells and, in particular, it is secreted from cancer cells and binds to its receptor, VEGF Receptor (VEGFR) to induce angiogenesis, whereby cancer cells are supplied with nutrients necessary for their growth through newly induced blood vessels.
Therefore, both of c-Met and VEGF are of great importance as targets in developing anticancer drugs. There remains a need for development of bispecific antibodies targeting c-Met and VEGF at the same time and therapeutic technologies using the same.